Tornado - Archived EDEN Topic Page

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Tornado Statistics

Since 2001, there has been an average of 1,200 tornadoes per year in the United States. While the majority are concentrated in "Tornado Alley," tornadoes can occur in all states, any day of the year, and at any time of day. On average, tornadoes are responsible for 60 deaths per year and millions of dollars in damage.

America's most deadly tornado struck on March 18, 1925, when 747 people were killed in a line of storms that raged through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. The tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri, May 22, 2011, is setting new records. NOAA Tornado Statistics.

The Enhanced Fujita Scale - EF Scale

The original F-scale was the method used to determine the strength of tornadoes. It was developed by Dr. T. Fujita in 1971. The basis of the scale is the type of damage observed, not wind speed. Though there are estimated wind speeds associated with the scale. The new EF scale, while it still conforms to the original F scale, now has 28 damage indicators, which conforms much better to current building materials and techniques. And the older F scale has had its misuses over the years, such as using the F scale by the appearance of the tornado cloud, oversimplification of the damage description, and, too much reliance on the estimated wind speeds. It is important to remember, the size of a tornado is not necessarily an indication of its intensity. Large tornadoes can be weak, and small tornadoes can be violent.

Dr. Fujita recognized that improvement was necessary. He published his memoirs called Mystery of Severe Storms in 1992 updating the Fujita Tornado Scale to include an estimate of f-scale damage then selecting the F-scale as a combination of f-scales and types of structural damage. The end result, is called the Enhanced Fujita Scale, or EF Scale and used by the National Weather Service in storm damage assessment as of February 2007.

Tornado Safety

It is very important to be prepared in case of a tornado. If weather conditions are favorable for the development of tornadoes in your area, then a tornado watch is issued. If a tornado is spotted on the ground, or is indicated by Doppler Radar, then a tornado warning is issued. In either case, it is imperative to have a plan of action.

In the case of a tornado watch, it is important to stay tuned to your local weather reports in case the weather should take a turn for the worse. Be prepared with a disaster supplies kit. It should include: batteries, flashlights, candles, matches, bottled water, a first aid kit, a NOAA weather radio, and other additional items (FEMA).

When a tornado warning is issued it is necessary to take appropriate shelter immediately.

1. If you are in a sturdy structure, such as a home or office building, get to the basement or designated severe weather shelter as quickly as possible. If there is no basement, then go to an internal room on the lowest floor. Stay away from windows.

2. If you are in a mobile home, try to get to a sounder structure. If there is no time, go to the center of your mobile home and protect yourself as best as possible.

3. If you are in a public setting (such as a mall, sporting event, school) listen to the people in charge as they have a plan of action designed to keep everyone safe

4. If you are in a car, try to get to a building as quickly as possible in a direction away from the tornado. NEVER PARK OR HIDE UNDER A BRIDGE OVERPASS. If you cannot safely outrun a tornado, or you are stuck in traffic, get out of your vehicle and get as far from the roadway as possible. Lie flat in a low spot until the tornado has passed. It is important not to stay in your vehicle since the violent winds can easily pick cars up and disperse them.

5. If you are outside (golfing, plowing) and are too far from a building, then the best course of action is to lie in a low ditch.

6. Tornadoes can form over water as well, and when they do they are called waterspouts. In this case, try to get to land while moving in the opposite direction of the waterspout. Once on land, look for an appropriate shelter.

After the tornado has passed, it is important to try to remain calm. People may require medical assistance. Be aware of downed power lines, broken gas pipes, and unsound structures.

Additional Resources

NOAA's nowCOAST

nowCOAST is a web mapping web page providing links to thousands of real-time coastal observations and NOAA forecasts of interest to the marine community. The web page serves as a "one-stop shopping" web site to real-time coastal information from a variety of Internet sites both within and outside of NOAA. nowCOAST is designed to be a planning aid to assist recreational and commercial mariners, coastal managers, HAZMAT responders, computer modelers, and marine educators to discover and display real-time information for their particular needs and geographic area of interest.

NOAAWatch

The NOAAWatch Web site is a web site offering information about ongoing environmental events, and explains the role of NOAA in prediction, monitoring, and recovery from environmental hazards. It provides public access to current information on a number of environmental threats ranging from oil spills, to hurricanes and tsunamis, to space weather.

NWS/SPC's Severe Weather Information

Tom Priddy, EDEN POC for the University of Kentucky, has made available nationwide severe weather Web pages. By organizing information from the National Weather Service and the Storm Prediction Center, Priddy has made it possible for you to easily access real time severe weather information for your state.

May 12: The 2015 tornado reports were low until April. During the month, 185 tornadoes were reported across the country. May has continued that trend with 151 tornadoes reported in the first two weeks. Affected states: Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas. Kansas has received the brunt--53 tornadoes--to date. NWS Storm Prediction Center also provides annual summary data.

[2013] June 17: At least four towns in northeast Nebraska were impacted by tornadoes Monday June 16. Survey teams were deployed today to assess damage, determining the number of tornadoes, the EF-scale intensity, path length, and path width for each tornado. United States Tornadoes shares this post about the supercell that developed in the area.

[2013] November 18: Record numbers of tornadoes ravaged the midwest Sunday November 17. Early reports of significant damage in Illinois and Indiana. One of the affected counties hit in Rick Atterberry's county, where he plays a role in county emergency management. Six deaths have been reported in Illinois. We know from personal emails that Indiana and Illinois delegates were engaged in immediate response on Sunday, and continued their efforts Monday.

This report from Rick Atterberry will be included in Response Notes, which he plans to do after the sun sets.

"As you might expect this has been a harrowing day. We are so very fortunate that no one was killed in Gifford, but there are 200 homes damaged and as many as 40 of those may be destroyed. To make matters a bit more intense, my home town of Washington was hit even harder. I still have not been able to reach my father, but my brother was able to work his way around the roadblocks and see that he and the house are ok. However, the home of one of our nieces was badly damaged and her sister's home down the street was also damaged. I have seen the aerial photos and it would appear at least 700 to 1,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. There was one fatality and 37 injuries there. We are actually sending a technical rescue team from Champaign to continue searching for victims there tomorrow. (sent November 17 and posted here with Rick's permission."

FEMA Policy Change Regarding Safe Rooms

The FEMA Mitigation Safe Room Policy provides guidance on the use of HMA funding for extreme wind mitigation activities including safe rooms under the Pre-Disaster Mitigation program (PDM) and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP).

"The 2012 waiver will allow costs associated with land acquisition to be an eligible project cost and eliminates the requirement for FEMA to review draft operations and maintenance plans prior to project approval. " - FEMA email blast 3/8/2012.

AVMA Grants for Vet Services in Disasters

The American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF) has established AVMF individual Reimbursement and Relief awards (grant programs) to assist veterinarians in the wake of a disaster. All veterinarians who are in the US and are American Veterinary Medical Association members are eligible. The Veterinary Practice Relief program and the Disaster Veterinary Animal Care Reimbursement program were created in 2005 in response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster to ensure veterinary care to the animal victims of a disaster.

Veterinarians affected directly by disaster can apply for up to $2,000 in assistance. Those who incur costs by offering veterinary medical services to the animal victims of disaster can apply for up to $5,000 in assistance.

2011 Winter Storms and Tornadoes

March 6: Pat Skinner (LA) reported March 6 that Louisiana is using the EDEN Tornado page for Acadia Parish, where an EF2 Tornado struck Saturday, March 5 killing one and injuring a dozen. Over 120 building are reported to be severely damaged, including the local high school. The impact on Extension or its facilities was not known at the time.

For the March tornado and high, high wind events, please choose "Winter Storms - 2011" in the Response Notes "Event Name" drop box.

Spring Tornadoes

April and May 2011 tornadoes in the southeast and midwest set new records for death and destruction in the Unitied States. June saw it's first deadly tornado touch down June 1 in Springfield, MA.

EDEN tracked the April, May and June events separately. See these subpages:

April 2011 Series - Southeast U.S. most intense in Tuscaloosa, AL, multiple states in the sequence

May 2011 Series - Midwest, most intense in Joplin, MO, multiple states in the sequence

EDEN worked with the National Hazard Mitigation Association (NHMA) about a possible webinar on safe rooms, to involve FEMA, Extension and our VOAD state and national partners. While no webinar emerged, two fact sheets were produced.

EDENotes Blog Post

Last Updated:5/12/2015 11:55 AM

Latest Blog Posts from EDENotes related to Tornado

Meteorological Spring began March 1st and with it comes a heightened emphasis on severe weather safety and preparation. 2016 has seen an increased number of tornadoes and other severe weather events over the past few years. Is that a predictor of spring weather? One answer is…it only takes one.

It only takes one tornado or severe storm to change lives forever. It only takes one to cause millions of dollars of damage. It only takes one to impact the economy of a community. It only takes one to destroy infrastructure, schools, churches, parks, public buildings, etc.

Photo by Rick Atterberry

As we remind ourselves of safety precautions, we recognize that being prepared can impact survivability reducing deaths and injuries. Damage to property can be mitigated by employing proper construction techniques.

Many states observe Severe Weather Preparedness Weeks in the spring. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Weather Ready Nation efforts consolidate information on best practices.

Beyond that information, now is a good time to review threats that are specific to a given location. Is the area prone to flooding, especially flash floods? Are outdoor sports venues equipped with lightning detectors? Are evacuation and sheltering policies in place?

FEMA

Another important piece of information is local protocols for operation of outdoor warning sirens. In general, these sirens are NOT necessarily intended to be heard inside homes and businesses. Some communities sound an all clear. In others, a second activation of the sirens means the threat is continuing for an additional period of time. Some locations employ sirens for flash flooding, nuclear power plant issues, tsunamis and other threats. Be aware of local policies. Always have an alternate way of receiving severe weather information…the All-Hazards Weather Radio System, warning apps, web-based warning systems.

Personal preparedness is everyone’s responsibility. Review shelter areas at home and at work. Create appropriate “Go Kits” for each location plus vehicles. Devise a communications plan to aid in reunification of families and co-workers. Be aware of those in the neighborhood or workplace with special needs who may need your assistance. And, always, be extra vigilant when severe weather is a possibility. A community can only be as prepared as its residents.

Being Prepared is Part of Who You Are

It’s often said in areas of drought in the southern U.S. that it takes a tropical storm to reverse the situation. This year, as we know, the Texas-Oklahoma drought was fairly well broken by a lingering storm system over Memorial Day weekend which resulted in more than 30 deaths.

Now comes what is left of Tropical Storm Bill, already as of this morning, reduced to a tropical depression. Some parts of Texas into Arkansas may see 2 to 5-inches of rain in the next day. While these rain totals don’t match some from the Memorial Day storms, they are excessive and flash flooding is a possibility.

As the remnants of Bill move slowly to the northeast across the next several days the heaviest rain will eventually spread into southern Illinois and on to Indiana by late Friday night into Saturday. Here’s the latest hydrological forecast discussion.

In fact, the remnants of Bill will interact with a stalled frontal system which has caused periodic heavy rain for more than a week as it waffled up and down across Illinois and nearby states. Flood warnings have been issued for several rivers in Illinois and extend into portions of the Mississippi River bordering the state. Flooding in Illinois ranges from major to minor and areas of heaviest precipitation have varied daily.

On Monday, tornado warning sirens sounded in downtown Chicago, a relatively rare occurrence. A funnel cloud was observed east of Midway Airport and another near Millenium Park which is just east of Michigan Avenue in the heart of the city. No touchdowns were reported, but some photos taken at the time show an unmistakable wall cloud.

From time to time on Weather Wednesday we will step away from purely meteorological topics to address preparedness. This week we’ll discuss one of the most basic preparedness items, a personal or family Go Kit.

A Go Kit should be assembled and customized according to individual needs following some general guidelines from FEMA. Be sure to look under the tabs for additional suggested items.

Let’s look at some of the items which should be included:

Water, one gallon per person per day for three days for drinking and sanitation. For long term storage the crystal clear containers hold up better, but water and food stocks should be rotated out regularly.

Food, a three day supply of non-perishable food. If using canned food, be sure to include a can opener. Specialty meals designed for use by campers are also a good option. Check preparation instructions to be sure you have all of the necessary equipment.

Flashlight and extra batteries. Batteries will generally last considerably longer in LED flashlights.

Red Cross via FEMA

First aid kit. A good basic kit will suffice unless special needs are involved.

Whistle to signal for help. A small air horn is also a good addition, but you can’t beat a whistle for convenience. It takes less volume of air to blow a whistle than to yell which can be important if one is trapped by debris. A whistle or horn also has a better chance of being heard over heavy equipment.

Dust mask.

Plastic sheet and tape if asked to shelter in place.

Local maps. Remember, familiar landmarks may be destroyed in some disasters.

Cell phone with chargers, inverters, solar power, charging packs, etc. Note, avoid using accessories such as the built in flashlight which tend to run down the battery rapidly.

Prescription medications and glasses. Setting aside medication can be problematic so work with your physician and pharmacist to see what can be done.

Cash and change. If the power is out or communications lines down, ATMs will be out of service.

Copies of insurance papers, account numbers, etc. Do keep these in a special place in the kit so you can keep track of them.

Infant formula, diapers, pet food, etc if applicable. Include a leash for your pet and count their water needs as well.

Change of clothes. Err on the side of warmth and waterproof items.

A couple of items recent experience has shown to be very valuable. Sturdy shoes or boots. Sandals and flip flops are not at all useful when walking through debris. If you have identified a shelter area in your home, you might want to keep the spare shoes/boots there.

Bicycle helmets or hard hats may also be useful if easily accessible to your shelter area.

Remember a Go kit should be able to do just that, pick up and go, should the need arise. It is important to temperate the desire to plan for all contingencies with the practical need to perhaps carry the kit for some distance. Kits are also available from retailers, but make sure to customize to your needs.

What caused the recent devastating and deadly flooding in Texas, Oklahoma and other states? One thought, advanced by Accuweather and others, is that the developing El Nino played a role. As we’ve written before, an El Nino is warmer than expected waters in the Pacific Ocean. El Nino events result in a split jet stream and it the southern stream likely contributed to the flooding in the South. Typically, heavier than normal rains occur in Spring, Autumn and Winter of El Nino years in a swath from California into the Mid-South.

EPA

Historically, even weak and/or developing El Ninos can cause the extreme precipitation witnessed in May. California largely missed out although the area around San Diego picked up record rainfall. In past El Nino events California received most of its precipitation during winter months. It remains to be seen if the current event will last that long.

In the meantime drought conditions have been greatly lessened in Texas, at least in the short term. Of course that came with a terrible price…dozens of deaths and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. The toll continues to rise and many rivers remain in flood.
EDEN Flood Resources:

It’s been an eventful week on the weather front, so let’s highlight a few points.

-Damage near Van, TX — KSFY

What started out as a very quiet first quarter of the year as regards the number of tornadoes has become much more active since mid-April. There have been several widespread, damaging and deadly outbreaks, especially over the last ten days or so.

In addition, the storms over the past weekend (May 9 and 10) included extremely high rainfall rates in some areas which led to flash flooding and necessitated swift water rescues. Some of the rescues were broadcast live by television stations in Dallas and retransmitted to the entire country via The Weather Channel.

— NWS

And if that wasn’t enough, a late season snowstorm on the same weekend buried parts of the Rocky Mountains into the Dakotas. The heavy, wet snow damaged buildings and had to be shoveled out of Coors Field before the Colorado Rockies could host their Sunday afternoon game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

And to top it all off, Tropical Storm Ana, brought gusty winds and copious amounts of rain to the Southeast.

62 years ago this month, April 9, 1953, about 3 miles from where I am sitting, a tornado was caught by radar for the first time. Scientists and electrical engineers at the Illinois State Water Survey at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign had modified a former WWII airborne radar for use in estimating amounts of precipitation falling from storms.

Don Staggs, an electrical engineer, was preparing the radar for later field tests. He started to notice what we now call “hook echo” returns in the scans of the storm. As afternoon turned to evening, a strong thunderstorm developed just north of Champaign, about ten miles from the radar site at the university-owned Willard Airport. The storm image included a pronounced hook on the bottom rear flank much as we see hook echoes on modern Doppler radar.

Illinois State Water Survey via The News Gazette

Still photos and a 16mm film of the images on the scope captured that moment. A team of meteorologists and technicians were able to study the image capture. Later, Dr. Ted Fujita the creator of the tornado strength measurement scale that bears his name, sketched over 200 of the frames of the film in his own hand. All of this can be seen in a terrific article from Colorado State University. Note especially the photos of the tornado and the well-developed wall cloud.

We now know that the radar captured the early stages of an F3 tornado that eventually traveled about 160 miles and dissipated near Albany, IN. There were two fatalities and about $4-million in property damage in Illinois. The path of the storm took it across mostly rural areas.

Next week, we’ll discuss current use of radar and what may be the next generation of this important forecast tool.

On this Tax Day edition of Weather Wednesday, we’ll revisit last week’s tornado outbreak in Illinois. Statewide, 11 tornadoes have been confirmed in the April 9th event. The earliest, which caused very little damage, was reported just northwest of Peoria in the afternoon hours. By early evening, strong thunderstorms were crossing far northern Illinois and eventually spawned the first EF-4 tornadoes ever reported in DeKalb and Ogle Counties (records kept since 1950) and the strongest tornado in the National Weather Service Chicago Office County Warning Area since an EF-5 devastated Plainfield, in the southwest suburbs, in 1990.

AP

Two people were killed in the unincorporated town of Fairdale where nearly every structure, more than 70 in all counting outbuildings, was either damaged or destroyed. 22 injuries were reported in the outbreak. The tornadoes eventually approached the far western suburbs of Chicago but missed three population centers near their path. Damage was widely scattered in a multi-county area.

PBrooks Photography

This outbreak was well forecast and there is general agreement there was plenty of warning. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC), as it did with the EF-3 and 4 tornadoes in Illinois on November 17, 2013, mentioned possibly tornadic storms at least four days in advance.

The National Weather Service Chicago Office updated their summary of the tornadoes just this morning. This is one of the most complete such documents I’ve ever read and includes some of the few satellite images of a tornado’s path I’ve ever seen. Read it all the way to the bottom and you’ll see the SPC guidance in the week leading up to the storms.

A couple of these tornadoes were extremely well documented via video (note: Strong language toward end) and live streaming and some of the visuals of the rotating wall clouds were just about textbook. The low sun angle contributed how well the tornadoes were captured.

There was also a significant side issue involving a motorist by the name of Sam Smith who was shooting video. That footage was widely shown on television and the driver was taken to task for getting too close to the storm, even if accidentally. (There are now licensing issues with the video so we won’t link to it here. However, it is widely available on You Tube.)

There were a couple of takeaways from his experience which are good reminders to all of us who may encounter storms. First, if a funnel cloud or tornado does not appear to be moving, it is either headed straight for the observer or dead away from the observer. To be safe, get out of that area immediately by driving at right angles to the storm. Second, this motorist backed up to take shelter in his vehicle under a bridge. Although many people have done that and survived, experts say that is a bad ideabecause wind speed may actually be amplified as it is compressed into that confined space. There have been fatalities of people under overpasses.

There’s been much talk in recent weeks of a more detailed method of describing the potential for severe weather now being employed by the Storm Prediction Center in its Convective Outlooks. The SPC worked with National Weather Service offices, communications experts and consumers of its products to expand its long time use of the “Slight, Moderate and High” risk categories to “Marginal, Slight, Enhanced, Moderate and High.”

In addition, the chart below describes what the storms might look like under each newly-defined category and what the main threats would be.

The Storm Prediction Center has many products that can be used by broadcast meteorologists, emergency managers and the general public to look as far as 8 days ahead. These tools are especially valuable for planning purposes and should never supplant your detailed local forecast.

The Mesoscale Discussions are particularly helpful on days when severe weather is expected. The discussions are issued on an “as needed” basis as storm threats develop. Other tools are updated as often as four times a day. If you’ve never visited the site at spc.noaa.gov, now would be a good time to familiarize yourself with the offerings.

This year’s April showers in the Plains states and eastward were not the gentle kind I normally associate with the phrase “April showers bring May flowers.” Showers turned into deadly tornadoes, hail storms, and historic flash flooding.

As I write this, it’s a lovely spring day and many people are picking up the pieces of their lives. Extension professionals are helping, and EDEN delegates are an important link in that network of assistance. Highlighted below are some resources for the initial stages of recovery.

Ag Damage Assessment and Economic Costs Estimation form was produced by Penn State Extension in 2011. It is “One simple form for every type of disaster, for all agriculture, and every state and region.”

Really? Well, maybe not the 15th (Ides) of March, but the first day of spring this year is March 20, and as the season changes from winter to spring we do begin to see more severe weather.

To help us be better prepared for those events, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declared March 2-8 as National Severe Weather Preparedness week. This year’s focus is on knowing your risk, taking action, and being an example.

Today, let’s talk about tornadoes. For an animated look at how tornadoes progress across the United States (all tornadoes, 1950-2012) throughout the year, check this United States Tornadoes blog postby Katie Wheatley.
Looking for information on tornado safety? Nearly every Extension service in the country has tornado safety information posted. Here are a few.

Alabama Cooperative Extension System recently published Tornado Safety in PDF and HTML formats. It offers tips for recognizing conditions that may develop into a tornado. Readers also learn about the difference between watches and warnings, safe and unsafe locations during tornadoes, things your kids can do to get ready, and ways to protect you and your family. Tennessee State University has a handy 2-page (1 sheet if you print front and back) Tornado Safety check sheet.

Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service provides several recommendations for tornado safety away from home. A tornado can strike anywhere at any time. Purdue University has 10 tornado safety tips for its students and faculty. Does your campus have similar tips and resources?

The Extension Disaster Education Networkcollected resources following the 2011 and 2012 tornado seasons. These resources were identified after affected states indicated there was need for the specific items. Perhaps you can also use them if you work with communities recovering from tornadoes.

You can find many more tornado safety publications and resources from land-grants by using the search term “tornado safety” at eXtension’s one-stop search.extension.org.

Oh, and a piece of trivia about the Ides of March – Julius Caesar was assassinated on that day in 44 BC.

Severe weather affected three states May 31. As of June 2, 15 tornadoes were confirmed across Oklahoma, Illinois and Wisconsin. Oklahoma received the brunt of destruction with12 tornadoes (4 EF-O, 6 EF-1, 1 EF-2 and 1 EF-3). Illinois was struck by two tornadoes (EF-2 and EF-3) and Missouri was hit by an EF-3 tornado. Thirteen people died in Oklahoma and 115 were injured as a result of the tornadoes. In Missouri, there were three flood-related fatalities.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that federal disaster aid has been made available to the State of Oklahoma to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe storms and tornadoes beginning May 18, 2013, and continuing.

The President's action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in Cleveland, Lincoln, McClain, Oklahoma, and Pottawatomie counties. Disaster Declaration 4117 (DR-4117) also makes public assistance funding available to affected state and local governments.

The first step in applying for assistance is to register online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-3362 or by web enabled mobile device at m.fema.gov. Applicants who use TTY should call 1-800-462-7585; those using 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS) should call 1-800-621-3362.

May 21 Path of Distruction

The tornado touched down around 2:56 pm in Newcastle, OK and moved through Moore and south OKC before lifting around 3:36 pm. The path length is estimated to be about 20 miles long. Preliminary damage rating of at least EF4. [NWS Norman, OK]

Donations and Volunteering - Message from Oklahoma

Sent through the VOAD system May 20th, evening:

We have had a very difficult couple of days with some very devastating tornados hitting several communities in Oklahoma. As I write this we are still experiencing tornados on the ground in Oklahoma. We know you all are seeing and hearing about the devastation and want to assist as soon as possible, but right now we want to ask you to do the following things to make our collaborative effort as effective as possible for our neighbors in need:

Please join us in allowing the first responders to do the work they need to do. It will take time to assess the complete amount of damage our fellow Oklahomans have suffered and comprise a list of how our VOAD organizations can help to meet their needs.

In the meantime, begin to take inventory of all available goods, services, and resources of your organization. Also, please take inventory of your organizations personnel and volunteers with their skill sets and availability.

At this time, PLEASE ask your organizations to make financial donations only until when and if other types of donations are requested. We all KNOW not heeding this request can lead to the second disaster after the disaster.

IMMEDIATE ATTENTION NEEDED ON VOLUNTEERS

Many unsolicited volunteers are showing up at the Incident Command Center in Moore!! PLEASE instruct all volunteers associated with your organization or other individual volunteers or groups you may come in contact with to NOT self-deploy. Best practices include a collaborative response, so people are directed WHEN NEEDED and WHERE NEEDED so their help and skills are most needed and will be most effective.

April 15 - Tornado season continued into April, with a preliminary tornado count for April 14 at more than 100 across the Midwest and Plains states. Storms wreaked havoc in Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, and NOAA was forecasting similar weather for the 15th in northeast Iowa, southeast Minnesota and western/central Wisconsin.

In mid March, two weeks after the first blast of storms in 2012 another devastating tornado touched-down, this time in Michigan. Look for Michigan's report in Response Notes from Members, below.

Earlier in the month: Severe weather that produced the deadly Leap Day tornadoes in Illinois, Kansas and Missouri, continued into Friday and Saturday bringing death and destruction in Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio.

Delegates should select Event Name "Tornadoes Spring 2012" when reporting through Response Notes. Reports of Extension impacts and activity are forwarded to our EDEN-NIFA liaisons as the Response Notes are received. Highlights are shared with delegates through this page.

Currently showing reports and updates from:

Alabama

Illinois

Indiana

Kansas

Kentucky

Michigan

Missouri

Ohio

Requests for Assistance

Responses to requests, as well as resources offered spontaneously, are presented on the "Resources Collected" page

March 12 - 1:30 p.m. Kentucky asked delegates for "information on how to remove fiberglass insulation from clothing and home interior fabrics"

March 9 - 10:00 a.m. Kentucky requested “canned” programs/activities to use with 4-H/Youth geared towards recovery after a disaster. ...programmatic activities that are already developed and ready to use (especially regarding recovery as most youth disaster programs seem to be geared towards preparedness)....short (approximately 1-hour) disaster recovery programs for youth...

March 6 - 12:30 p.m. Kentucky asked for "pre-developed information about hay/pasture cleanup after a tornado". The network responded with suggestions, two published news articles and flood-related pasture-feed notices from the northeast (Extension based; found on Pennsylvannia Farm Bureau website).

Response Notes from Members

States listed alphabetically.

Alabama

SituationAwareness:

A series of tornadoes hit north Alabama beginning about 9 am March 2. Communities in Limestone and Madison counties that were affected in last year's storms were again hit. No deaths associated with these events. Additional tornadoes hit other parts of the state throughout the day and into the night. One death occurred following a tornado in Dadeville, AL (Tallapoosa Co.) damage assessments will be conducted on Saturday. 17 counties are reporting damage.

ImpactUni:

At this point, I don't know of any damages to Extension property nor of injury to employees.

UniResponseEfforts:

Offered support and resources.

UseofEDENResourcs:

Links to web resources include ACES EDEN and EDEN tornado resources.

CommentsKudos:

Thanks for the resources and the network support!

DisasterInstitution:

Auburn University - V. Morgan - 9:10 a.m. 3/3

Illinois

Initiated
February 29

A tornado struck Harrisburg in Saline County.. later characterised as F4 ...six deaths. Town sealed off ... numerous propane leaks ...many injuries. Early estimates are that about 300 structures have been damaged or destroyed. Hospital damaged but remains open.

A tornado hit Harveyville, Kansas (population about 250) in Wabaunsee County, Tuesday night, Feb. 28. About 40 percent of Harveyville suffered damage. Eleven people injured...three critically. [One had died by the next day]. Some homes completely destroyed and gas and power supply affected. Gov. Sam Brownback declared a state of emergency, which covers the whole county.

ImpactUni:

No known direct impact on university personnel or Kansas State University Research and Extension offices.

UniResponseEfforts:

Kansas State University Research and Extension County Agents are providing assistance to the Harveyville, Kansas tornado recovery effort.
Since the tornado on the evening of February 28, Wabaunsee County Agent, Karaline Mayer, has been in charge of directing the efforts of the 400-600 daily volunteers to various areas of the town that need assistance from tree removal to sorting through household residue for important items. Another Wabaunsee County Agent, Bernadette Trieb has been involved in the management of the donations that are directed to Harveyville. Lyon County Agents Brian Rees and Gordon Rhonda have also been involved in the Extension effort to manage volunteers and assist in the city’s management of the disaster. Everyday, the volunteers are provided a lunch and refreshments throughout the day by volunteer groups and organizations.

The agents have been to Harveyville everyday since the tornado and expect to have extra long hours through next week before their assignments are returned to regular city and county personnel. The County Agents will then provide long term assistance to the Harveyville community through their office with the Kansas State University connection for additional educational information.

UseofEDENResourcs:

EDEN POC in KS sent two msgs to K-State extension educators in Wabaunsee Co., pointing out (with links) resources available to them through the EDEN network and offering to help further. Received a response from the FCS agent w/thanks. No requests for additional help at this time (approximately 15 hours after storm).

DisasterInstitution:

Kansas State University -ML Peter - 12:29 p.m. 2/29

Kentucky

Initiated March 3

Tornadoes spawned from storms beginning in the early afternoon of March 2, 2012 and lasted through the evening. Death toll in Kentucky rose to 22 by March 17. The hardest hit counties were in the eastern part of the state, with reported deaths in Laurel County, Morgan County, Kenton County, Menifee County, Johnson County, and Lawrence County.

On Thursday, March 15, an EF3 tornado damaged some 105 homes and destroyed 13 with winds up to 140 mph in the village of Dexter in Michigan's Washtenaw County. Touching down around 5:30 pm, it remained on the ground for a half hour and covered over 7 miles. Fortunately no one was killed or seriously injured.

National weather service reports that an EF0 twister flipped a car and damaged a few homes in Monroe County's Ida township and an EF2 twister moved a house off its foundation, toppled a couple of barns, and damaged farm equipment in parts of Lapeer County.

Governor Snyder toured the Dexter area Friday afternoon most affected by the storm. No state of emergency has been declared at this point.
Power companies are working to restore service to those affected by the storm, some roads are closed until downed trees, power lines and debris can be removed. Red Cross has a shelter set up, United Way and other local groups are accepting donations. Warning sirens were sounded some 24 minutes before the tornado struck allowing those residents at home to take shelter, many others were not yet home from work, etc.

ImpactUni:

One Washtenaw County MSU Extension educator had his home virtually destroyed.

UniResponseEfforts:

I sent an email to all MSU Extension staff Friday monring reminding them of the resources available via the EDEN website. The same information was also posted to Facebook by one of my colleagues.

DisasterInstitution:

Michigan State University - E. Bush - 8:51 a.m. 3/17

Missouri

Initiated March 1

At least 5 tornadoes occurred in MO late Tuesday and into Wednesday AM resulting in 3 fatalities. ... Damage is extensive and still being assessed...Especially hard hit was Cape Girardeau County (almost 500 homes damaged) with other small touch downs in NE and NW MO. ...Another round of severe weather is forecast for this same area late tonight.

Counties impacted by Friday's storms include: Adams, Athens, Brown, Clermont, Gallia, Pike and Scioto. Three people in Clermont County died as a result of Friday's severe weather and tornado outbreak. The Governor declared a State of Emergency for Clermont County; the declaration allows additional state resources to assist with debris and recovery issues.
Residents of Moscow in Clermont County were allowed to return to their homes and properties at 4 p.m. Saturday. Aproximately 935 customers in the county remain without power. Utility officials urged citizens to stay away from all downed power lines. A shelter remains opened at Clermont County's New Richmond High School.

ImpactUni:

Not aware of any at this time.

UniResponseEfforts:

Our local OSU educators are out surveying the damage with the Farm Service Agencies, and have been working with land owners answering clean-up questions. Our educators have been asked to reply How they are assisting, and what resources are needed.

UseofEDENResourcs:

None reported.

ResponseNoteFeedback:

Entered for Dee Jepsen by Pat Skinner, based on emails received 3/5 10:00 a.m.

DisasterInstitution:

The Ohio State University - Entered by PSkinner for D Jepsen based on e-mails received March 5, 10:00 a.m.

Initial Report

In its February 29 National Situation Update, FEMA reported the early season outbreak:

"Severe thunderstorms resulted in multiple unconfirmed tornado touchdowns across the Central Plains. Tornados were reported in Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri. Tornado watches and warnings continue today for portions of the Central Plains, Ohio and Tennessee Valleys. No significant damages or injuries were reported from the tornado in Nebraska. Damage assessments for tornado/tornados in Missouri are ongoing. Sporadic power outages have been reported due to downed trees and power lines."

EDEN received reports from delegates in Kansas (ML Peter), Missouri (B Maltsberger) and Illinois (R Atterberry). Six of the twelve reported deaths (as of morning, March 1) occurred in Illinois, where Extension has been impacted directly. Severe weather is continuing March 1 in the same geographic area and to the east.

Tracks across the Heartland

Storm Tracks - February 28 and 29 2012 (Credit: NOAA)

NOAA's NEXRAD system of radars deployed throughout the United States provide meteorologists the most up-to-date information on the ground regarding severe weather, especially when it comes to identifying potential tornado outbreaks. By analyzing both the rotational velocity of the storm systems (the spinning of tornadoes has high rotational velocity compared to the surrounding storms) and presence of hail, scientists at the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory have developed a product that approximates the track of tornadoes, shown here for the February 29, 2012 storms in Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas.

Extension Response Video

This March 13 U-Tube video tells a powerful story of Purdue Extension leadership and service in Henryville.

Resource Requests

Indiana has made no requests for assistance from the network or our USDA partner for this disaster.

Response Notes Digest

SituationAwareness:

Update submitted 3/15

Indiana tornados about 11 affected counties. At least one county with a declared emergency (Clark), State is in the process of declaring a state emergency, FEMA is on notice.

3/15:Response is slowing down and recovery is picking up.

ImpactUni:

We called. To my knowledge no educator has been physically impacted, although several had to take shelter.

UniResponseEfforts:

Purdue Extension participated in the state wide virtual EOC immediately and began to manage the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster members. Within 18 hours Purdue Extension provided personnel (1) for the southern Indiana emergency operations center. We have also coordinated the statewide calls with volunteer centers locally to connect them with state and national volunteers and with Indiana Department of Homeland Security and FEMA.

We have been dealing with multiple issues at once. Burning up phone batteries, and multi-tasking like never before. The key issues are:
1. Volunteer coordination
2. In-kind donation management
3. Debris removal on private property.
4. Animal and Ag issues.

3/15:Purdue Extension, as a member of the Indiana VOAD, has helped manage more than 5000 volunteers since the tornado. Abby and Steve are the primary ones involved in that from Purdue. That has a value of about $770,000. In my role as chair, I managed the daily IN VOAD calls last week and three this week. Today I will convene a group of about 100 volunteers to help them start a long term recovery group.

Abby and I will continue to help manage the expected influx of volunteers this weekend, and we hope to completely shift from response to recovery by Monday. In that, we will facilitate, the federal state and local efforts to maximize the recovery

The debris cleanup and food distribution has been excellent. If the news media came back they wouldn't recognize the place.

Curt Emanuel has been coordinating the ag situation and keeping educators in the affected counties informed.

The Purdue Extension Agrosecurity Team (PEAT) educators in the most affected areas have stepped up (over the weekend) to communicate with educators and suggest ways they can coordinate with emergency manager. Two concerns are reports of a few dead livestock (we are attempting to connect with the Indiana Board of Animal Health, but haven't accomplished that) and debris in farmers fields. The PEAT team will help with county-by-county assessment and organize efforts as needed.

3/15:EDEN is one of three resource links in the closing image of the Henryville video.

CommentsKudos:

Final comments at 48 hours from the event is seems like 96. The EOC is still in response mode which includes assessment. Much is to be done. FEMA Region V representatives have been on the Indiana VOAD calls which Purdue Extension leads. They report that we are doing an outstanding job.

ResponseNoteFeedback:

Entered by Pat Skinner for Steve Cain based on e-mails received March 4 and March 15.

DisasterInstitution:

Purdue University -- Entered by PSkinner for S Cain based on e-mails received March 4, 2:20 p.m.

Featured Resources

The Use of Social Media in Disaster Recovery: Lessons learned while creating and managing "Joplin Tornado Info" (2011) on Facebook and further implemented with "Branson Tornado Info" (2012) Get the PDF

Resource Requests

Missouri has made no requests for assistance from the network or our USDA partner for this disaster.

Response Notes Digest

SituationAwareness:

Updates from RN submitted 3/2 and 3/5

At least 5 tornadoes occurred in MO late Tuesday and into Wednesday AM resulting in 3 fatalities. One tracked from Buffalo to Lebanon, one from Kimberling City to Branson. Damage is extensive and still being assessed. Others hit numerous places in SE MO. Especially hard hit was Cape Girardeau County (almost 500 homes damaged) with other small touch downs in NE and NW MO. So far at least 13 counties have reported tornado damage. Other parts of the state suffered from high wind damage, torrential rain and some flash flooding.

Another round of severe weather is forecast for this same area late tonight.

ImpactUni:

All Extension personnel are accounted for and safe. Several have experienced power outages and wind damage.

County program directors from across the state are at a conference in Columbia. In spite of this, they are still monitoring impacts and sharing information in the affected counties.

I believe we will need to be watchful for "disaster burnout" of our faculty in these areas. They are still working with the Joplin tornado recovery; and now this will be an additional stressor.

UniResponseEfforts:

2/29/12
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A storm recovery resource called “Branson Tornado Info” on Facebook is up and running today. Actually, the page was put in place during January by David Burton, civic communication specialist with University of Missouri Extension.
“In January, I created three new pages on Facebook that are modeled after the success we had last year with the Joplin Tornado Info and Missouri Flooding Info pages on Facebook,” said Burton. The Joplin Tornado Info page is still very active with over 50,000 fans.
When and if a tornado strikes some key areas in southwest Missouri, be ready by “liking” the newly created “Springfield Tornado Info,” “Branson Tornado Info” and/or the “Greene County Tornado Info” Facebook pages to learn how you can help, what the needs are, and to learn about emergency and cleanup work from the organizations and groups doing the work.
These pages are designed to be a collaboration of state, federal and local agencies and organizations involved addressing tornados that those three areas. The page is managed by MU Extension but can include the PIOs from various organizations as co-administrators following a model used immediately after the Joplin tornado.
...As we saw in Joplin, social media is a great communication tool during disasters,” said Burton.

3/1/12
The tornado took out part of an Empire Electric sub-station south of Buffalo, MO on old highway 65 and thus a power outage. The path of the tornado went through a sparsely populated part of the county but unfortunately a trailer park plus other residents in its path were met with almost total destruction and at least one fatality.
- Ted Gallion, Community Issues Management Specialist

I chatted today with some volunteers about actually writing up the guidelines we used on Joplin Tornado Info and now Branson Tornado Info that I believe have made them a success. There have been some very specific things we have done and not done that have been of value.
Maybe there would be an opportunity to do a training on this very topic at a meeting or something of state emergency management people. ...
- David Burton, Civic Communication Specialist

Local assessment teams are still in the process of determining damage. Extension Specialists are gearing up to provide resources in these affected areas. Much of this damage is in the same Extension regions as the Joplin tornado and the Mississippi River flooding last May.

Several of us (Extension) are participating in MO VOAD update calls in an effort to share information among VOAD partners.
- Bev Maltsberger

3/2/12
Assistance was provided to Extension colleagues in IL with website resources, Facebook suggestions and sharing the customer intake form used in MO.
In yesterday’s MOVOAD call I recommended that, Extension Facebook pages and website pages be connected to MOVOAD’s website. This is being done today and will link many resources together to help people make connections. David Burton is working hard with his administrative team to insure only quality information is posted on the Branson and Buffalo Extension Facebook sites. The Branson site has 16,674 likes.
-B. Maltsberger

Chrystal Irons, Business Development Specialist and Wayne Dietrich, Community Development Specialist are checking with Red Cross to see how the MARC is going to be set up. I’ve suggested checking with Kathy Macomber re: business resources made available in Joplin. It doesn’t sound like too many households were affected except for the family run motels where the families have living quarters on site. Chrystal will keep us informed on needs down there. -Gordon Carriker, CEMP team

MU Extension will have the Business Disaster Resource Guides available for the MARC. I have been working with the Branson CVB and the Taney County Economic Developer on the circulation and printing. Please let the MU Extension Taney County Office know how we can be of any assistance.
-Chrystal Irons, Business Development Specialist

News releases about fraud are being sent out from Extension. Construction scammers are already showing up in the area.

3/5 - Extension specialists are actively participating in the Branson MARC. We are providing guidesheets, one-on-one assistance to survivors and networking with other agencies. Specialists in the area responded immediately with only a few hours notice and have set up work schedules to cover houts the MARC is open. Intake forms previously developed are being used to track people we are working with to allow for follow-up.

The Branson Facebook page is operating and being monitored 24/7. We are working with the MO VOAD and SEMA to coordinate all pages and websites. This is going well. David Burton has worked with others to develop a guidance document for using social media during a disaster. This document is an excellent guide and will be shared. We are considering offering a live computer training session to teach others statewide and beyond these guides and share lessons learned.

We accessed EDEN resosurces starting in May 2011. They will be utilized again during this disaster.

CommentsKudos:

David Burton was up before the birds and was monitoring the Facebook page Branson Tornado Info that he had put up the night before as the storms passed through MO. Over night it had seen 50 likes. at 2 PM today, there are 16,300 likes. The previous tornado Facebook sites for Joplin and Sedalia last May have etablished Extension as a reliable source of research based information.

3/2/12
David Burton is working hard to organize the Facebook pages and add information to the social media!

3/5/12
Extension specialists are responding to the need. We are learning a lot and becoming more efficient in our response efforts

ResponseNoteFeedback:

It is great!

DisasterInstitution:

University of Missouri - B. Maltsberger - 2:30 p.m. 3/1

Appealing a denied declaration

Extension is being asked to assist in the preparation of material for a state appeal of the denial of a federal disaster agency. In doing so, we are moving into new territory. Specifically we are being asked to help document economic impact of the storm on businesses and homeowners. We are working on a very tight timeline.

Once the current situation becomes more stable, we intend to meet with a small team, including an Urban and Regional Planning professor and others to establish a process for doing this assessment work which was previously done by another state agency. We will work with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to try to bring some clarity to this new role. Extension has always assisted FSA when called upon for agricultural loss documentation, but this foray into the broader loss area is new territory.

- taken directly from 3/16 Response Note

Resource Requests

Illinois has made no requests for assistance from the network or our USDA partner for this disaster.

Response Notes Digest

A tornado struck Harrisburg in Saline County, Illinois early this morning. [Later characterised as F4] So far the death count stands at 10. [Revised down to 6]. The town has been sealed off because of numerous propane leaks. There are many injuries. Early estimates are that about 300 structures have been damaged or destroyed. [Hospital damaged but remains open.]

Crops are not a major concern at this time. State resources have been moved to the area and the governor is visiting at this hour, 1430CT.

3/8 - Power is back on in Harrisburg, and the recovery efforts continue. Volunteers have been picking up debris in fields, and taking pictures that are found to the Newspaper office for claim. Rain has hampered cleanup efforts this week.

3/16 Update: Recovery from the February 29th tornado in Harrisburg in Saline County, Illinois and other nearby areas continues. There were 7 deaths and several hundred structures in the town of 9,000 were damaged or destroyed.

A federal disaster declaration was ought, but has been declined. The state is filing an appeal.

ImpactUni:

The homes of at least two extension employees have been damaged or destroyed. It is believed [confirmed 3/1] that extension office is intact as it is in a different part of town that where damage is heaviest. Additional, other family members of extension employees have sustained damage. No extension employees were injured.

UniResponseEfforts:

It is early in the process. Information has been forwarded to the county director by the EDEN POC. She has been briefed on the usual role played by extension in disasters in Illinois. That is, assisting when asked and working in long term recovery efforts.

3/2 Update: Extension employees from the Hartisburg office and at least two adjoining multi-county units are on site and have been delivering extension and other information in. He affected area.

The Red Cross is using the extension office in Harrisburg as a case management center.

Our county director has been included in the emergency management team meetings.

3/8 Update: The Saline County Director Continues to meet With the emergency planning team three times per day, and extension staff have distributed information about contracts, and are assisting tin the FEMA Data collection.

Champaign County 4-H is currently collecting school supplies for Harrisburg students.

3/16 Update: Extension is being asked to assist in the preparation of material for a state appeal of the denial of a federal disaster agency. In doing so, we are moving into new territory. Specifically we are being asked to help document economic impact of the storm on businesses and homeowners. We are working on a very tight timeline.

Once the current situation becomes more stable, we intend to meet with a small team, including an Urban and Regional Planning professor and others to establish a process for doing this assessment work which was previously done by another state agency. We will work with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to try to bring some clarity to this new role. Extension has always assisted FSA when called upon for agricultural loss documentation, but this foray into the broader loss area is new territory.

UseofEDENResourcs:

Links to U of I, EDEN and eXtension resources have been supplied to the county director who has power at her home in a neighboring community. Early resources involve power loss and food safety. Others will be used as the situation evolves. [... as well as great information EDEN Colleagues from Missouri have provided.]

CommentsKudos:

The local county director, Connie Beck, is doing a terrific job. Other nearby. Extension units are contributing to the effort.

EDEN, eXtension and MO provide...Great information and resources to forward to staff on the ground, and it certainly nice to have people to call! Thanks Bev and Bob! [in Missouri]

3/8 Update: We continue to use information being provided from Missouri, including the new Social Media in Disaster piece, Ag pieces, etc.

3/16 Update: EDEN and Extension resources covering such topics as power loss, clean up, removing debris from pastures and fields, food safety, helping children cope with disasters, hiring contractors, avoiding fraud, etc. have been distributed. There has been one conference call so far and there have been numerous one to one contacts as well as broader appeals through the network.

Featured Resource

Pasture Cleanup of Small Debris - DRAFT document PDF shared with EDEN
"To meet the immediate need, folks from within UK and outside UK contributed their thoughts to the document. We hope to formalize this in the coming weeks and have it appropriately vetted for future disasters, but this is what we are using for Extension Agents who need it now.

States are invited to utilize this resource on condition that the DRAFT watermark be retained until Kentucky has completed its peer review and revision process.- Andrea Husband Higdon (KY)

Resource Requests

Responses to requests, as well as resources offered spontaneously, are presented on the "Resources Collected" page

March 12 - requested information on how to remove fiberglass insulation from clothing and home interior fabrics"

March 9 - requested “canned” programs/activities to use with 4-H/Youth geared towards recovery after a disaster. ...programmatic activities that are already developed and ready to use (especially regarding recovery ...short (approximately 1-hour) disaster recovery programs for youth...

March 6 - rquested pre-developed information about hay/pasture cleanup after a tornado.

Response Notes Digest

SituationAwareness:

Update submitted 3/18

Tornadoes spawned from storms beginning in the early afternoon of March 2, 2012 and lasted through the evening. Current death toll in Kentucky is 19 with over 300 injured. The hardest hit counties at this time appear to be in the eastern part of the state, with reported deaths in Laurel County, Morgan County, Kenton County, Menifee County, Johnson County, and Lawrence County.

Eastern part of the state most dramatically affected, some entire communities completely destroyed. Eastern and Central parts of the state have significant damage to agriculture, including downed fences, debris in pastures, and damaged/destroyed structures. Western part of the state primarily experienced structural damage, with little effect on agriculture.

ImpactUni:

We believe that all of our staff is okay, although communication with some areas of the state is not functioning. Specifically, we know that the Morgan, Magoffin and Johnson County areas have been especially hard hit. Our Morgan Co. Extension Office may be a total loss, but personnel are safe and accounted for with no reported damage to personal property. No other reports at this time, but we have heard that some other places may have sustained damage.

3/18 Update: All personnel accounted for and no injuries reported. One Extension Office (Morgan County) completely destroyed. Some damage to personal property belonging to Extension employees, but not homes destroyed.

UniResponseEfforts:

3/18 Update: Morgan County Extension employees operating out of one of the employee’s homes.

Many Extension Offices serving to collect donations and coordinate distribution of donated household goods; organizing debris removal crews for pastures; leading fencing teams to install temporary and/or new fencing to affected areas; identifying sources of emergency hay and feed and coordinating distribution; distributing publications on children and disasters, food safety after a power outage, safe debris removal from pastures, mental health after a disaster, safe rooms, etc.; collaborating with FSA to conduct damage assessments; etc.

UseofEDENResourcs:

3/18 Update: EDEN listserv has been very valuable – in particular for gathering information related to debris removal in pastures, removing insulation from clothing, and working with children after a disaster. Reviewing the resources gathered from the 2011 Tornadoes also proved very useful and much of the information posted on that page is being used. Participation in a conference call with other affected states helped provide new ideas for response/recovery activities by comparing how other states were handling the same disaster.

CommentsKudos:

3/18 Update: EDEN HQ and ICH committee have been extremely valuable in their rapid response to requests for information, keeping the tornado page current, and general support. Due to their diligence, the effectiveness of the EDEN network is maximized and can be leveraged to its full potential.

Appreciate Steve Cain’s updates on his Facebook page outlining his disaster activities as it has helped provide new ideas for possible activities to conduct in KY.

ResponseNoteFeedback:

Two thumbs up!

DisasterInstitution:

University of Kentucky - A. Husband - 2:40 p.m. 3/3

June 1 - Springfield Massachusetts

June 1: At least two confirmed tornadoes descended upon towns in western Massachusetts, leaving at least four dead and smashing homes and buildings across a 40-mile stretch.

One person was killed in Springfield, two in nearby Westfield and one in Brimfield, about 20 miles east, according to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, in a CNN article.

The storms struck shortly after 4 p.m. in Springfield, about 90 miles west of Boston.

The most significant May 2011 strike was in Joplin, MO, on May 22nd. 134 people lost their lives.

A rash of killer tornadoes, touched down on May 24th in Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas and over 60 tornadoes, less deadly, were reported in the central mid-west again on May 25th.

First video - helicopter fast pass (Sent by Beverly Maltsberger; received from a colleague in Joplin.) Taken within hours of the tornado's passing, as emergency vehicles were beginning to arrive.

The tornado that occurred on May 22 in Joplin (population 49,024) in Jasper County has now been upgraded to an EF-5; the most heavily populated areas and the major business and commercial areas were hardest hit along a path a mile wide for 13.8 miles; EF5 winds are in excess of 200 mph.

A State of Emergency had already been declared for the recent storms in the State. There have been 142 confirmed fatalities; more than 1,371 injuries and the unaccounted for list has been reduced from 232 to 10. [By day's end the missing list had been cleared and death to reductedt to 134.] The state reports Mobile Medical Unit (MMU) set up at St. John's Hospital is operational. Landmark Hospital (small long term care facility) continues to work on generator power; no restoration date.

Eight primary schools damaged or destroyed; 2 fire stations destroyed. Critical damage was sustained to the City of Joplin communications system. Cell/wire line phone service was severely damaged but is substantially restored. Childcare and emergency childcare continues to be an unmet need. There is 1 shelter open with 141 occupants. Approximately 7,000 customers remain without power Sunday evening. The water system restoration is 70% complete.
PDA teams surveyed 7,728 homes;

Requests for Assistance

May 27 10 a.m. Missouri requested help from EDEN to find resources in Spanish for residents of a trailer park in Sedalia. The network responded with resource lists on three state extension web sites, a lenghthy collection on eXtensionespanol.net and two non-extension web sites frequently referenced by their states. See Resources Collected.

Early Days

We heard from Missouri early Monday (23rd) that all local Extension personnel are accounted for and doing well. Beverly Maltsberger spoke with a colleague in Joplin in the early hours; only medical responders were being allowed in. Other Extension agents were assisting in neighboring areas less severely impacted. Missouri has not requested assistance from the network beyond "doin' what comes naturally."

Missouri is continuing to submit Response Notes on their tornado activities and share local photos once or twice daily. These notes provide content for the "Missouri Experience" pages (coming soon), and go directly to our USDA liaison for reporting up the line.

Early Days

Credit: NOAA. Click the image to obtain a PDF.

May 1: The death toll from the second deadliest U.S. tornado outbreak on record (April 27) rose above 335 on Saturday...some estimates put the number of homes and buildings destroyed close to 10,000. Models forecast insured property losses of between $2 billion and $5 billion. The tornadoes mauled Alabama's poultry industry -- Alabama is the No. 3 U.S. chicken producer -- and triggered a controlled shutdown of the nuclear reactors at Browns Ferry.

The death toll in Alabama, the hardest-hit state, rose to 246 on Saturday, with hundreds still missing in the Tuscaloosa areas. At least 90 more deaths were reported in Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and Louisiana. Arkansas had been struck a few days earlier with a combination of flood and tornadoes.

We heard from Virginia Morgan (AL) on April 28 that all of the Extension facilities were still intact and some had power in the northern part of the state. Two ag experiment stations sustained pretty significant damage. One employee suffered injury, but will fully recover, and four employees' homes received damage ranging from slight to totally demolished.

A small group of EDEN delegates worked with Virginia to prepare a "Ten Steps to Recovery" document needed by her agents in the northern part of the state. The document also formed the basis for our weekly EDEN blog post. Virginia also pulled from EDEN and other Extension resources to post relevant tornado information on Alabama EDEN.

EDEN is corresponding with the National Hazard Mitigation Association (NHMA) about a possible webinar on safe rooms, to involve FEMA, Extension and our VOAD state and national partners.

Summary taken from a May 4 Response Note

There were 2 waves of widespread severe weather in Alabama on April 27. The first wave moved through during early morning hours across nothern portions of central Alabama producing widespread damaging straight liine winds and isolated tornadoes. The second wave involved numerous supercell thurnderstorms and produced long lived, strong to violent tornadoes across the northern tow-thirds of central Alabama. Federal Emergency declared for 33 counties (as of 5/2/11), making them eligible for individual assistance. All 67 counties are eligible for public assistance (PA) A and B only/hazard mitigation (HMGP). Numerous businesses across the state were reported to have been damaged or destroyed (numbers pending).

Requests for Assistance

Alabama has made no requests for assistance from the network or our USDA partner.

Response Notes Digest

SituationAwareness:

April 21

The storm system that began in Oklahoma on Thursday, April 14, made its way to Alabama by Friday morning. The National Weather Service has so far (April 19) confirmed 15 tornadoes in central Alabama. Affected counties included Sumter (Geiger, Cuba), Hale (Greensboro, Forkland), Bibb (West Blocton), Greene (Forkland), Shelby (Alabaster, Wilsonville), Perry (Hamburg), Dallas (Paul M. Grist State Park, Marion Junction, Selma), Elmore (Titus, Equality), Coosa (Equality), Tallapoosa (Equality, Jackson’s Gap). The tornadoes in Sumter county created damage paths 10.5 miles x 1 mile (Geiger) and 8.9 miles x 200 yards (Cuba). The Forkland (Hale and Greene counties) tornado left a damage path 24 miles long by 880 yards wide. The Equality (Elmore, Coosa and Tallapoosa) tornado damage path was 22 miles x 800 yards. According to the NWS, no fatalities or injuries were reported for any of these 15 tornadoes. However, there were seven deaths resulting from the storm system. Six of the seven were in mobile homes, with the seventh person believed to have been in a house.

ImpactUni:

Initial report: No Extension personnel were injured during the storms, nor were county offices damaged. Revised 4/28: all of the Extension facilities are still intact and some even have power in the northern part of the state. Two ag experiment stations sustained some pretty significant damage. We had one employee who suffered injury, but will fully recover, and four whose homes received damage ranging from slight to the house is demolished. The Alabama A&M University campus (part of the ACES system) will be closed until May 9 due to power outage.

UniResponseEfforts:

The county coordinators in the affected counties have offered local support. On April 27, started updating the Alabama-EDEN page w/good stuff from EDEN. Now we start collecting damage information and helping affected counties figure out about long range recovery teams. The ACES mobile Internet trailer was deployed to Cullman County April 27 and transported to Marion County May 4. AS of May 4 county agents are distributing materials and working with individuals in their counties.

UseofEDENResourcs:

The coordinators have been provided with links to resource materials from ACES and through EDEN.

4/28 Update: Used EDEN resources in developing the AL-EDEN page. Also, sought assistance from a handful of EDEN delegates in responding to a specific question from a regional director: "What are the first 10 steps we need to do to begin cleaning up this mess?" Draft response was pulled from some EDEN resources and refined based on feedback from the handful. That response is going to be used for this week's EDEN blog-post, since so many states were affected.

DisasterInstitution:

Auburn University [Virignia Morgan]

EDEN delegates can read individual Response Notes on the Intranet.

Requests for Assistance

Tennessee has made no requests for assistance from the network or our USDA partner for this disaster.

Response Notes Digest

SituationAwareness:

Entered June 3 from a Response Note submitted May 16.

Overview of Incident: Between April 25 and 28, 2011, multiple tornadoes struck several counties in Tennessee. Most notable were two EF-4 tornadoes that targeted the southeast Tennessee counties of Hamilton, Bradley, Rhea and Bledsoe. In addition, there were multiple reports of EF 2 and 3 tornadoes in numerous counties throughout the state. Along with the storm front that triggered these tornadoes, there were numerous reports of large hail, straight line winds and flash flooding. In all, there were 40 tornadoes reported during this 3 day period. 10 East TN counties received a disaster declaration due as a result of the storms.

ImpactUni:

All personnel accounted for. Many offices were without power for varying amounts of time. No reports of personnel or property damage in counties. UT Institute of Ag did recieve damage from high winds and hail.

UniResponseEfforts:

Response by County:

Bledsoe County –Bledsoe County Extension Agent J C Rains and County Extension Director Matt McCuiston responded to a request by Bledsoe County EMA director to lead Disaster Animal Response Team activities in the impacted area of the county. The tornado, which struck a rural farming community in the county, required assistance with livestock and temporary fencing. Rains and McCuiston directed the placement of livestock at temporary holding sites and the repair of fencing to assist local cattle producers. The Bledsoe County Agents spent over 20 hours organizing local volunteers and DART members to assist local cattle producers in the DART response.

Bradley County – Meigs County Extension Director responded to a request from Bradley County EMA to lead the local DART response in Bradley County for livestock and horses impacted by the tornado. Mitchell led the evacuation, removal and temporary housing for horses and cattle that were on farms that received catastrophic damage losing barns, holding facilities and fencing. Mitchell organized local DART members and volunteers and spent over 60 hours directing the response in Bradley County.

McMinn County – The entire county saw damage mainly due to downed or damaged trees due to high winds causing some property damage and widespread power outages. Most power was restored within 24-48 hours. EF4 did touch down in Claxton community causing total distruction of several mobile homes and mainly extreme roof damage to several homes and barns and many downed and damaged trees in the Claxton area. No fatalities or serious injury reported.

Johnson County - Tornadoes hit Johnson County at approx. 12:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 28, 2011. The path of the tornado covered a 12 mile section of the county approx. 250 yards wide. Approx. 200 homes were either damaged or destroyed, 2 deaths reported and several injuries. Barns, fencing and timber were the main losses in the agricultural community with a few livestock losses.

Greene County – Milton Orr, County Director
Three separate tornadoes. On the ground for approximately 30 miles estimated one mile wide.
Hay crops contaminated with glass and building materials, mostly unusable. estimated 80% of the affected area.
Pastures littered with glass and building residue mostly unusable. Estimated 90% of the affected area.
Fences over the affected area mosltly incapable of restraining livestock on most acreage.
Barns over 50% of the affected area totally destroyed.
Damaged barns over the remaining 50% of the area.
40% of the homes in the affected area destroyed.
60% of the homes in the affected area damaged
Response: Storm damage assessment
Request for assistance from USDA. Participating in Assessment and requests.
Providing assistance to Homeland security when requested.
Relief efforts and special programs for 4-H'ers and their families.
Providing technical assistance to producers on next steps in regards to livestock.

Crockett County - Crockett County was hit by several severe thunderstorms and possible tornado during the recent period of continuous severe weather conditions. Numerous large trees were felled during the storms. Damage to residences and outbuildings was apparent throughout the county. Many buildings had trees to fall on them or experienced roof damage due to the high winds experienced. Roadways were closed due to trees falling across them. Flooding of roadways and property occured due to the heavy rainfall that accompanied the storms and also due to debris, including downed trees, clogging ditches and other waterways thereby impeding water flow.

Washington County – Washington County experienced tornado, hail and straight line wind damage on two occasions in early April and late April. Damage occured to farm structures, crops, homes, businesses and vehicles including loss of life. Main areas affected were the communities of South Central, Ducktown, Harmony, Sulfur Springs, Headtown, Gray, Lamar, Jonesborough and Johnson City. Effect on agriculture is crop damage, delayed planting, destruction of stored feeds, damage to livestock and livestock housing and other farm structures.

Montgomery County - Flooding provided damage to approxiamtely 1000 acre of cropland during April and May. Trees were downed over widespread parts of the County. Power outages were observed on 2-3 different occasions.
West TN Region (Forestry) – Submitted by David Mercker, UT Extension Forester
- Assisted two landowners in locating a consulting forester to salvage downed timber
- Immediately following the damage I sent a web link and two articles out to our county offices that addressed timber casualty loss and salvage
- Sent the same information to the Alabama Forest Owner’s Association for posting on their web site
- Notified foresters and landowners in the area of a webinar on the same subject hosted by NC State
- Inspected a few home sites that experienced damage to yard trees and gave recommendations

Hamilton County – Hamilton County EMA requested Extension Specialist Ray Burden to assist in leading the DART response to the tornado damage in east Hamilton County. Burden worked with the local DART members to provided animal emergency response needs for livestock, equine and household pets. Team members went site to site surveying residents to determine what, if any, animal needs that might have. DART members provided feed, shelter and movement of animals for numerous residents. In several incidents, DART veterinary volunteers, provided animal health care needs. Burden spent 32 hours assisting in the DART response. Over 100,000 people without electricity on day 1. It took 3-7 days to fully restore power. The Apison community was closed to the public for a number of days.

Knox County - Knox County experienced two severe thunderstorm events on April 25 and April 28. The April 25 event downed thousands of trees, resulted in power lines being brought down and road closures along the path of the storm. An EF1 tornado was confirmed through south Knoxville. The April 27 event was a series of severe thunderstorms throughout the region that spawned numerous tornados and brought high winds and large hail. The greatest insurance costs from this storm in Knox County is expected to be hail damage to homes and vehicles.

NOTE: FLOOD DISASTER DESIGNATED COUNTIES WILL BE ADDRESSED IN A SEPARATE SITUATION REPORT.

DisasterInstitution:

University of Tennessee [Ray Burden]

If you have resources to help address these requests, please send them to Kim Cassel (SD), chair of the EDEN Information Clearinghouse Committee.

Pasture Cleanup of Small Debris - DRAFT document (updated 11/2013) PDF shared with EDEN
"To meet the immediate need, folks from within UK and outside UK contributed their thoughts to the document. We hope to formalize this in the coming weeks and have it appropriately vetted for future disasters, but this is what we are using for Extension Agents who need it now."

States are invited to utilize this resource on condition that the DRAFT watermark be retained until Kentucky has completed its peer review and revision process.
- Andrea Husband Higdon ( KY)

If you have resources to help address these requests, please send them to Kim Cassel (SD), chair of the EDEN Information Clearinghouse Committee.

Response to fiberglass-in-clothing request

March 12, 2012 - 1:30 p.m. request. Kentucky asked delegates for "information on how to remove fiberglass insulation from clothing and home interior fabrics."

We did not receive any Extension resources on this subject, but there were "personal experience" comments about the fiberglass being bad for the machine(s) and general agreement that the fabric with fiberglass should be washed separately from other clothing.

Pasture Cleanup of Small Debris - DRAFT document PDF shared with EDEN
"To meet the immediate need, folks from within UK and outside UK contributed their thoughts to the document. We hope to formalize this in the coming weeks and have it appropriately vetted for future disasters, but this is what we are using for Extension Agents who need it now."

States are invited to utilize this resource on condition that the DRAFT watermark be retained until Kentucky has completed its peer review and revision process.
- Andrea Husband Higdon ( KY)

Delegate comments and advice:

"The big issues are contamination and debris. Walking the fields will help for forage crops that are harvested. Grazing in those fields is an issue. Some debris, like fiberglass insulation can present a serious threat. ... After our tornado 15 uears ago last week, there were far more volunteers who wanted to help than could be managed. So, on the weekend following the storm, volunteers were asked to report to a church on the edge of town and then walked arm and arm across many farm fields clearing debris so that planting could go ahead on schedule. Two things were accomplished. The fields were cleared of debris and the volunteers were given something meaningful and manageable to do." (from Rick Atterberry, IL)

"One warning based on first hand info is that exposed hay bales of all sizes will also be ruined. The glass, splinters and fiberglass debris will be driven far into the bales and make them unfit for use. " (from Bev Maltsberger, MO)

"Some farmers tried strong magnets (like roofers use) to pick up the ferrous metals, but they weren’t very effective, and didn’t work on the non-ferrous metals. The most effective method is to have a lot of volunteers walk the fields to pick up the debris. Also expect flat tires on tractors from the nails and splinters that get missed." (from Bob Schultheis, MO)

Through this delegate query we learned, too, about the AVMA disaster service grants. See the Current Situation page for details.

Resources Volunteered

These resources have been volunteered by member institutions in response to the February/March outbreaks.

The Use of Social Media for Disaster Recovery- Lessons learned while creating and managing "Joplin Tornado Info" (2011) on Facebook and further implemented with "Branson Tornado Info" (2012). Get the PDF - Missouri Extension

Hiring Contractors after a Disaster- Information Sheet from Iowa State. Get the PDF - Iowa State Extension

Heritage Preservation is a national non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage of the United States. Heritage Preservation assists museums, libraries, archives, organizations, and individuals in caring for our endangered heritage. Heritage Preservation is co-sponsor with the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the Heritage Emergency National Task Force. HP also shared Advice for Saving Damaged Family Treasures - A release dated March 5, 2012 , which was emailed directly to POCs in affected states.

ECHO Minnesota offers video and scripts - 2011

In response to the Missouri request for materials in Spanish, Katherine Waters (MN) and Becky Koch (ND) recommended linking to ECHO Minnesota. Katherine let ECHO Minnesota know of our request and her referral. ECHO Minnesota offered EDEN and its delegates direct access to part of their collection, delivering the materials with this cover message: "ECHO was made aware that you are seeking any post-storm information available in Spanish and English. We have some items here from previous projects (television, radio, phone, and print) we’ve produced in English and Spanish – you may be able to use segments of the translated Spanish scripts in your own messaging or use the materials as-is."

We contacted ECHO Minnesota and obtained permission to post these on our public EDEN Web site for maximum access and public benefit.

“Severe Weather Warnings” (link to online video)– A 20 minute program that discusses storm safety before and AFTER. The AFTER segments are scattered throughout the program but the big parts can be found at 4 minutes and 6 seconds and 14 minutes and 30 seconds on the ENGLISH program. The Spanish program, which you can get to by clicking “Spanish” in the right toolbar may be timed slightly different, but it’s captioned in English so you should be able to find it quickly. For your reference, I have also attached the SCRIPT in English and Spanish – note that it is only available for half of the show because the second half is not scripted because it’s a conversation based off of questions and answers. The numbering on the scripts align so you can use the English as your guide. English Script Spanish Script

The Flooding messages below each have two versions, one is 90 seconds, the other is shorter at 30 seconds (with the exception of food safety). All of the flooding messages are available for complimentary download online at the bottom of THIS PAGE.

"Flooding – Food Safety” (link to online audio – near bottom of page) – Though this addresses food safety after a flood, it still is applicable to food safety after a tornado. I’ve attached the scripts for your reference. English and Spanish scripts.

"Flooding – Health and Safety” (link to online video and audio) - Though this addresses health and safety after a flood, it still is applicable to post-tornado. I’ve attached the scripts for your reference. English and Spanish scripts.

"Flooding – Basic Cleanup” (link to online video and audio) - Though this addresses cleaning up after a flood, it still is applicable to post-tornado. I’ve attached the scripts for your reference. English and Spanish Scripts.

“Flooding – ReEnter Home” (link to online video and audio) - Though this addresses reentering your home after a flood, it still is applicable to post-tornado. I’ve attached the scripts for your reference. English and Spanish scripts.

Additional resources:

We just filmed a program about community resilience after an emergency, it’s called “Community Strength and Preparedness.” Though we do not have the video available yet, I’ve attached the scripts for your reference as you may be able to use some of the language. The numbering system is the same as the other items listed. English ScriptSpanish Script

We use the Safety Emergency flier to promote where to go if there has been a safety emergency – “ECHO Safety Emergency Flier”. It is attached in PPT and can be co-branded by agencies. PPt for co-branding

The “Tornado Safety Update” language is what we used regarding tornadoes in Minnesota. It references MN resources, but you may be able to use some of the language. Download the flier

The above information is provided by ECHO Minnesota, a nonprofit that creates vital health, safety and emergency information for people who do not speak English. Learn more about ECHO by visiting http://www.echominnesota.org.

Tips for Early Recovery

Here are the tips assembled iin May 2012 by Virginia White (AL), from shared EDEN and Extension resources. If your state was hit by the same series of storms, you may find these useful.

Take care of yourself and your family first. Make sure your tetanus shot is up-to-date. Get plenty of fluids, eat right, and try to get enough sleep. Talk to your friends and family—it’s the best stress reliever.

Reenter your property safely. Wear clothing appropriate to the task: closed-toe shoes, long pants, leather or work gloves, protective eyewear. Use dust masks/filters to reduce the amount of insulation fibers you might breathe and to protect yourself if you are sensitive to dust or mold.

Make sure utilities are turned off or disconnected. Do not enter the area if you smell gas or see downed power lines.

Make a record of damage and losses–take pictures or make video recordings.

Prevent further damage as much as possible and secure items from theft. If your roof has been exposed and the house is still standing, cover the roof to prevent water damage that may occur later.

Contact your insurance agent or company representative.

Assemble cleaning supplies and equipment:

Buckets

Tools (crowbar, hammer, screwdriver)

Brooms

Shovels

Hoes

Scoops

Wheelbarrow

Dolly

Bushel baskets

Throw-away containers for garbage and containers to carry from house to street

Published or Revised:11/7/2017

Author(s): Tom Priddy

The Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) is made possible by USDA NIFA and our participating USDA Cooperative Extension and NOAA Sea Grant Extension programs. Over 300 delegates representing over 75 disciplines at 77 state Extension programs in 50 states and 3 US territories.